International Journal Animal and Veterinary Advances 5(5): 171-182, 2013 ISSN: 2041-2894; e-ISSN: 2041-2908 © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2013 Submitted: March 12, 2013 Accepted: April 08, 2013 Published: October 20, 2013 Corresponding Author: Wafaa A. Abd El-Ghany, Poultry Diseases Department, Faculty Veterinary Medicine, Cairo, University, Postal Code: Giza, 12211, Egypt, Tel.: +2 01224407992 171 Evaluation of the Efficacy of Feed Additives to Counteract the Toxic Effects of Aflatoxicosis in Broiler Chickens P 1 PWafaa A. Abd El-Ghany, P 2 PM.E. Hatem, P 3 PM. Ismail P 1 PPoultry Diseases Department, P 2 PMicrobiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt P 3 PPhysiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Department, College of Veterinary Medicines and Animal Resources, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia Abstract: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate (HSCAS) and a phytobiotic (turmeric powder) to counteract the toxic effects of aflatoxin BR 1 R in broiler 1Tchickens.1T Five hundred, day-old broiler chicks were divided equally into five groups. Birds of group (1) were fed on plain ration containing neither aflatoxin BR 1 R nor treatment, while birds in groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were fed on ration contaminated with aflatoxin BR 1 Rat concentration of 2.5 ppm of ration from day old till the end of the experiment. Chickens in group (2) were given ration contaminated with aflatoxin BR 1 Ronly. Group (3) was treated with HSCAS at a concentration of 0.5%, while group (4) was fed on ration containing turmeric powder in a dose of 80 mg/kg of the ration. Chickens in group (5) were given concomitant HSCAS and turmeric powder at the recommended doses. All groups were kept under observation till 5 weeks of age. The results cleared that treatment of aflatoxicated birds either with HSCAS or turmeric powder even their combination induced protection from the development of signs and lesions with significant (p<0.05) improvement of performance when compared with un-treated control group. Both HSCAS and turmeric powder treatment induced significant (p<0.05) amelioration of the measured organs body weights ratio, humoral immune response to Newcastle Disease (ND) and biochemical parameters in aflatoxicated chickens. In conclusion, addition of HSCAS and or turmeric powder can be considered an integrated approach for the control of aflatoxicosis in broiler chickens. Keywords: Aflatoxicosis, hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, poultry, turmeric powder INTRODUCTION Aflatoxin, a class of mycotoxins which is ubiquitous in nature and continually encountered in feed ingredients (Manafi et al., 2009b). Aflatoxin is a secondary toxic metabolite produced by the fungi Aspergillusflavus and Aspergillusparasiticus (Smith et al., 1995). Aflatoxin BR 1 R is the most toxic among all types of mycotoxins (Sweeney and Dobson, 1998) as it induces severe economic losses such as immunosuppression, poor growth and feed conversion, increased mortality, decreased egg production, leg problems, liver damage and carcass condemnations (Soliman et al., 2008; Yarru et al., 2009a). Added to that, potential mycotoxin residues were detected in tissues and eggs of birds (Pandey and Chauhan, 2007) and become particularly important as potential hazard for human health. Feed safety is concerned since poultry feed worldwide is frequently contaminated by aflatoxins. Adsorbents like aluminosilicate binders have a potential to reduce aflatoxicosis in poultry Davidson et al. (1987), Araba and Wyatt (1991), Kubena et al. (1998), Galvano et al. (2001), Diaz et al. (2002), Pimpukdee et al. (2004) and Dakovic et al. (2005) as their antioxidant property prevents the damage of the cell membrane caused by free radicals generation or lipid peroxidation (Gowda and Ledoux, 2008). Certain phytogenic compounds like coumarins, flavonoids and curcuminoids possess antioxidant property and inhibit the biotransformation of aflatoxin BR 1 R to their active epoxide derivatives (Lee et al., 2001). 1TTurmeric (Curcuma longa) is a tropical Asian plant. The main yellow biologically active substance extracted from rhizomes of Curcuma is curcumin 1T(Osawa et al., 1995). 1TCurcuminpossessesanti-inflammatory (1THolt et al., 2005)1T, antibacterial 1T(Araujo and Leon, 2001), antifungal (Wuthi-Udomler et al., 2000), 1Tantioxidant 1T(Iqbal et al., 2003; Menon and Sudheer, 2007)1T, anti1Tnematodal (Kiuchi et al., 1993) 1Tand hypolipidaemic 1T(Ramirez-Tortosa et al., 1999) 1Teffects. Moreover, it has been studied that curcumin exhibits hepatoprotective, antitumor and antiviral activities (1TDuvoix et al., 2005; Emadi and Kermanshahi, 2007)1T. It is used in the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal problems 1T(Anwarul et al., 2006)1T. 1TIt was documented that turmeric powder has protective effects against aflatoxin BR 1 R (Manafi et al., 2009a; Rangsaz and Ahangaran, 2011).